Kaufman Music Center

The Johnny Mercer Foundation has partnered with the Kaufman Music Center to launch a residency program with visiting artists that will give underserved children in Title 1 schools the opportunity to write their own lyrics and gain a better understanding of how songs are actually written.

Kaufman Music Center, a not for profit center for the arts is located on New York’s Upper West Side. The Center, which is known for its innovative concerts and music education programs, oversees the Accentuate the Positive lyric-writing workshops in classrooms from the Bronx and Harlem down to the Lower East Side. The workshops focus on four of Johnny Mercer’s well-known songs: “Hooray for Hollywood,” “Moon River,” “Blues in the Night” and “Accentuate the Positive.”

The Johnny Mercer Foundation provides residencies to schools at no cost. In addition, many of the participating schools in New York will also receive free tickets to attend Kaufman Music Center’s Broadway Playhouse series, an interactive, live show that introduces children to the great writers of the American musical theater.

“With the cuts in education threatening the arts even more in public schools, you are providing an invaluable service that is so very important to the students of New York City. You never know…the next Stephen Sondheim or Tom Jones may be born from a spark from Kaufman Music Center and The Johnny Mercer Foundation!” – Accentuate the Positive teacher